Art of Darkness

chapter 6

NATALIA ELYSE DELAVIN

Oh wow, he called me by my nickname.

I smirked at him before getting off the car. He stopped somewhere like a forest area. He pulled both the men outside the car as they fell off the ground.

"Yey. Thanks." I smiled at him and proceeded to walk toward them while playing with the knife in my fingers.

"So, what to do, what to do." I playfully asked while pretending to think of something.

"Oh, I know!" I said exaggeratingly as I suddenly stabbed my knife into the man's shoulder slowly. Sadly, Aries needed to cover his mouth because he might scream and we might get unwanted attention.

Then I continued to play with the other one, cutting off his skin as tears started to form in his eye.

I looked down aiming for his thigh when I saw a damp area in the middle of his crotch. "You fucking pissed yourself?!" I laughed hysterically.

Aries was just leaning on the van, watching the whole thing.

"Yow Ramirez! You sure you don't want to come here and enjoy the fun?" I shouted.

"No thank you, Rossi. You do you," he answered scrolling through his phone.

"You know you can take a video of me here and send it to the precinct to have me arrested!" I shouted while laughing.

"What a great idea. But I'm currently not in the mood to do that," he shrugged.

Fine whatever you want. I'm already giving you ideas and here you are declining them! I just rolled my eyes at him and continued on doing the work.

After two hours and handing over the two killers to Alejandro, I'm now standing at Aries' office terrace having a smoke.

"Smoking is bad for your health. It would kill you easily. I prefer sending you to jail before letting you die."

I was about to place the cigarette in my mouth when Aries suddenly took it from me and threw it in the bin.

"That's expensive shit, you know," I chuckled resting my arms on the terrace glass fence. I looked at the city lights since his office is way on the thirtieth.

I took a deep breath not saying anything as Aries just stood beside me, also resting his arms on the glass fence.

"You're really returning to Italy?" He asked making me just hum in response.

"I have nothing more to do here. If it wasn't for your jobs for me, I wouldn't have come here in the first place. I hate this place."

Aries averted his gave to me, "Then why did you agree in the first place?" he asked.

"I don't know either." I chuckled. "For the thrill, I guess."

We were both engulfed with silence again for a few seconds before I spoke. "Remember when I said that my hatred for them was much deeper?" I faced him and he just nodded.

"They didn't just abandon me, you know. They gave me up to the devil." I let out a heavy breath not looking at Aries. "For ten years, I grew up in a place where I was tortured every day. They feed me to keep me alive then beat me half dead. It was a cycle for ten years."

I sat on the floor, one leg to my chest while the other rested on the tiles. Aries just stood there, watching and listening. "I was chained to the wall, whipped, stabbed, shot you name it. Thankfully they didn't touch me because they refuse to touch a dirty girl like me."

I can hear Aries' heavy breaths but I just continued. For some reason, I want to open up to him. Despite our banters for the past three years, he is still someone I trust for some reason.

"Then when I was eight, I... saw my father." I stopped for a moment letting a teardrop. "He entered the room I'm locked in. He didn't hurt me but he just stood there... watching them beat me up... smiling. As if he was enjoying it."

I could never forget that. No matter how I tried it would sometimes appear in my dreams. Seeing his face in the news... worst in real life just triggers the nightmare.

"I called him for help. Shouting 'Dad' again and again, reaching out for him but he did nothing. He just walked out of the room and I never saw him again."

I wiped the tear from my eye before continuing on about how I managed to escape that place and how I was treated in different foster families.

"When I left that family, I lived on the streets. I slept under the bridge, in tunnels, near the canals, anywhere with shelter." I remember those days how I wished I just died. Especially when I first got my period on the streets, the pain was unbearable.

"I had to steal food. I managed to survive with one loaf of bread that would last me for a week or two then a bottle of water." I looked at him whose gaze was still fixated on the view up front.

"Then I was kidnapped again. Would you believe that?" I softly laughed. "I was almost sold off by a human trafficking syndicate. But during the transaction, we got caught in the middle of a gang war then they all died. I escaped with their guns and that's where everything about the arms trafficking business started."

I didn't notice that my tears were already continuously flowing down not until Aries started to wipe the tears away from my face.

He sat beside me and pulled me onto his chest, hugging me tightly.

"I fucking hate him. I hate them. They're the reason why I experienced all those shit. I'd rather be glad if they just killed me instantly rather than giving me up. One of them could've fought for me but no. No one even dared to find me." I mumbled resting my head on his chest.

It feels so comfortable.

"Shh... you don't need them. You're strong. Really strong and I admire that about you the most. If it wasn't for you, dad, and I would've been dead you know." he whispered.

"Yeah. You two are dumb." I softly chuckled as I heard him click his tongue.

Both of us went quiet again. Silently getting comfortable in each other's embrace as I slowly feel my eyes getting heavier from crying.

"Sleep mi reina. You still have me." I heard him whisper before letting myself get consumed by darkness.